Second Chances
by of-starsandapples
Summary: Max says it's over, she thinks it's over, her heart wants to believe it's over, but once she gets a second chance, she begins to fall for Fang all over again. FAX and EGGY. POST FANG.
1. Prologue: Something bizzare

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters from Maximum Ride. They belong to James Patterson. C:

**Author's Note: **Alright guys! New story. I promise this one has a plot to it! So stick with me for now and just a heads up, but I probably won't be continuing 'Watching the Sun Grow Old' anymore. Fang's flock will be in here though. I love them too much! :D So R&R and I hope you enjoy!

When I die, would my life really flash before my eyes? Would images of my flock, my family, the evil white coats, the stinkin' erasers, would they all race past me? Sometimes, I felt the answer was yes, and yet, I knew it couldn't have been true.

The true question here was, would death take away my memories?

Max Ride here. I'm a fifteen year old Avian-American, leading activist in my mom's saving-the-world group, CSM, and also the flock mother of four kids. Let's see, I've fallen hard for someone, had that person break my heart, went through the whole post break up trauma and now, I'm back and running again. That was pretty much my life summed up in a few sentences.

We were flying through the mountains of Montana, the cool air billowing us from all directions, my hair following suite. Iggy, now my second in command, flew on my right side with Nudge and Gazzy trailing behind me. Angel brought up the rear with Total in hand. It was pretty peaceful and boring now that the School was no longer chasing them and _he_ was no longer creating a storm of emotions inside me, but sometimes, Max Ride lives for the adrenaline from taking out a massive eraser or from coming in victorious after a mind-numbing race.

"Maax… I'm hungry," Gazzy whined, his boyish voice jolting me back to the present. I snapped out of my thoughts just as quickly and reverted back into leader-Max, into the Max that my flock needed, into the Max that wasn't really me.

"Alright we'll la-" Something whizzed past my ear. I froze, suspended in the air, the only thing keeping me up was the gentle, instinctive flapping of my wings. At that moment, my whole world slowed for a moment, my vision turning black and white, and all sound void in my ears. Then, I felt myself start to lose altitude, like, really fast. In the distant, I could hear the sound of Iggy's voice as he shouted out to me, the sound of Angel's high pitched scream and Nudge's panicked gasp.

I wasn't sure if I hit the ground or not, but soon, that black and white world faded into darkness. Slowly, slowly, I felt myself slipping through the thin fabrics of memory and being. I could've sworn I saw the flash of Iggy's golden-orange hair, of Gazzy's ever mischievous snicker, of Angel's pure, innocent eyes, and of Nudge's meaningless chatter.

All of them illuminated the darkness that surrounded me, but worst of all, I saw _him._ It was his dark eyes and deep midnight hair that dwelled in my mind the longest, in my fuzzy greying world.

Slowly, I felt images of Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge and Angel, memories of our past escapades, buried feelings for Ari, Dr. Martinez and Ella, heck, even for Jeb, slip through my fingers. Desperately, I clenched my fists, trying to retain what I could, trying to fight the growing darkness around me.

They disappeared and pretty soon, images of _him_ faded from my mind too. But only one word remained in the darkness, the word that I chanted over and over to myself, a word that had sent my very being into turmoil.

Fang.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of the characters from Maximum Ride. James Patterson does.

**Author's Note: **First chapter is up! I hope you enjoy! R&R. I'm hoping to get chapter 2 up too! C:

A small beam of light broke through the darkness that surrounded me. It flickered each time I blinked or at least I _think_ I was blinking. Every time I closed my eyes, it just felt like I was sinking back into the darkness, so instead, I fought to keep my eyes open, spurred on by the momentary brightness in some distant corner of my mind. Slowly, that light began growing and I felt more aware of my surroundings. Sounds flooded my eardrums and light through my eyelids. I could hear voices and see faces; they were blurry, but they were there. After blinking a few more times, the picture in front of me began to focus. It was a welcome sight after being in that darkness for god knows how long.

But only then, did I realize that I had no idea who these people were.

"Max! Are you alright?" A boy's voice drew my attention to him. I caught sight of orange hair and light blue eyes before a flurry of ensuing questions bombarded me from all directions. I was still caught on the first word that boy said though. _Who's Max?_ That question swarmed in my head, urging my still buzzing mind to think.

I was in a room of some kind, on something soft. My back ached so much, but I was too confused to really pay much attention to it. What had happened? Who were these people? Questions flooded my own mind as I tried to recall even an inkling about all of this, but my mind was as blank as the darkness that had surrounded me moments before. Who was I?

"Wait, who are you?" I pointed to the first boy, with pale blue eyes. He held my hand, his touch light and comforting. I looked down at his long slender fingers and something triggered in my mind. I knew him and he, apparently, knew me. But I couldn't place a name to his face. "And you, you, you and you." I added, my gaze flickering to each of the people surrounding me. They all wore identical expressions of concern and confusion, a feeling that was no doubt mirrored on my face. A look passed between the tall boy and a small girl. The girl had been so quiet that I hadn't even noticed her until now. Her blond curls fell around her face, highlighting her features nicely. _She's so cute._ An errant thought ran through my head, though it was quickly pushed away by the more pressing matters at hand.

The boy's mouth opened in an 'o' shape and his eyes looked troubled, though his expression turned into a knowing one as he brought his gaze back to mine. Those eyes… they were so familiar. Ugh! What was wrong with me?

"You don't remember?" He asked, his voice slightly pained. The room was oddly quiet, except for the rapid beating of four other hearts. Actually, I was pretty surprised that I could hear the fast hum of _thump thump, thump thump,_ at all.

I shook my head at his question. "No, am I supposed to?" The tension in the room was getting to me. They were only a bunch of kids! But they were so mature, so sober, it actually amazed me. _Max! Can you hear me?_ A small, albeit soft, high-pitched voice rang in my head. I felt my eyes widen in surprise as I met the unflinching gaze of the small girl, her deep blue eyes fixed intently on this. _Who's Max? Me?_ I thought, letting my confusion and panic swarm my brain.

The small girl gave a barely perceptible nod just before the orange-headed boy started talking again. God, I really needed to know their names.

"I guess not. I'm Iggy," he said, giving me a small smile. Despite still not knowing anything, I felt slightly reassured that they were going to introduce themselves. I hated being in the dark about these things, no pun intended.

A black haired, brown skinned girl stepped up, her dark brown eyes the size of fish bowls, as she introduced herself. "I'm Nudge! And I guess it's nice to me-" she was cute off by the younger boy's snicker. His eyes looked the same as the small girl's and I could only guess that they were related.

"My name's the Gasman, but you can call me Gazzy!" He said, shooting me a grin. I liked him already, and then of course, the small girl spoke. As soon as the words left her mouth, I knew that the voice inside my head had belonged to her.

"And I'm Angel. Oh, and this is Total," my attention followed her gaze as a small, black dog jumped into my lap. His eyes sparkled with intelligence as he too, introduced himself, much to my surprise.

"Gawsh, it's nice to see you, Max. I'm Total," his voice was scruffily and rough. Besides the whole talking dog thing, he was actually quite cute.

"Wow, you can talk…." I commented, more to myself than anyone else. Total nodded –such a human action- and I couldn't help but notice the brief flash of annoyance in his eyes.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'm still not quite over the wings yet either," he muttered pointedly.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of James Patterson's characters!

**Author's Note:** Sorry for my disappearance! Exams and such did bad things to me. Anyways, review with what you think please!

* * *

The room grew quiet as the kids exchanged uncomfortable looks with each other. My gaze flickered between them, unsure of what had been happened. Did the talking dog just tell me I had wings? None of the others had the telltale feather and bones. They looked _normal._ Was I any different from them? I glanced at Iggy, desperate for an explanation. He stood up and motioned for the others to move as he slowly moved to the center of the room. It didn't escape my notice that his hands were slightly in front of him, touching the table's corner as he nimbly dodged them.

Before speaking, his pale blue eyes swung in the direction of the little girl, Angel, though his gaze remained slightly above the top of her golden head. "I-," he hesitated slightly, "We all have-," another pause, "Wings," Iggy finished. At that moment, I could feel five pairs of eyes watching me intently, as if anticipating –and fearing- the reaction from me. It was hard to believe, I mean, they just told me they –we- have _wings_. I may be crazy, but even I can't believe that.

_It's true, Max!_ Angel's voice popped into my head again, but I wasn't sure if it really was the little girl standing in front of me or just some figment of my imagination, the part of my mind that wanted to fit in- even if it meant believing I had wings. _Just watch Iggy!_ The high-pitched voice disappeared. I followed its directions and swung my gaze to Iggy, who was still standing in the center of the room. The others seem to have shifted closer to me, giving him a cushion of air. He breathed in once before shooting me a hesitant smile. With one fluid motion, two large wings unfolded behind him, dark brown stripes against the pale white feathers, spanning almost fifteen feet across the room. My eyes widened at the sight, unsure if it was yet another trick played by my mind.

"See, Max? Wings," he offered me a small smile and then flapped his wings slightly, as if showing me that they were real, although the movement was slightly awkward in the small space.

"Whoa! How did you get them?" I couldn't help the eager tone in my voice as I leaned forward on the bed. I glanced at the rest of the kids, "Do you guys all have them too? Wings, I mean," I asked.

They nodded, but didn't spread theirs out for me to gawk at like Iggy had. Between the talking dog and the winged boy in the room, I didn't dare doubt them. _You have wings too, Max._ Angel's voice. My eyes widened in shock, my mind refusing to process it. How could I have wings? No, it was just too… _Too what?_ I didn't know. Too weird? Too abnormal? I lowered my eyes, no longer wanting to meet their gazes.

Did I think them weird? Abnormal just because they have wings? Just five minutes ago, they were still regular kids and I was grateful as hell for them helping me, but now, just because they have a few extra bones on their back, I was ready to push them all away?

I looked up at the sound of foot steps crossing the room, Angel's golden blond curls coming into my vision. She held out her hand to me, a confident smile on her face. It was actually quite scary, the way such a small child was so sure of herself, of her ways, of her way of life. Hesitating for only a minute, I took her hand and let her lead me off the bed.

My legs were slightly numb from their lack of use and it almost felt strange to walk again, my steps still a bit jittery, like rubber. "Where are we going?" I asked as Angel continued out the door and down the stairs. She remained silent as she twisted the knob on the front door. A gust of fresh air blasted me in the face as she opened the door. I inhaled, grateful for the change in scenery.

"I'll show you, Max," Angel said, her voice sweet and strangely reassuring. She moved behind me and placed her hands on my back. She seemed to grab something there and pulled gently, extending something big, something feathery- wings.

I inhaled sharply as I saw the shadow cast upon the grass by the pair of enormous wings on my back. I gave them an experimental flap and was surprised to see the shadow of th- my wings flicker as the feathers rustled.

"Wow," I didn't know what else to say, "Uh, I can fly, right?" Angel nodded, giving me a reassuring look. To think the day would come where I would seek reassurances from a seven-eight year old, I did _not_ see that happening.

I started flapping –for lack of better word-, hoping to catch air beneath the huge feathers for me to lift off. _Try a running start!_ Angel encouraged. Huh. The little girl didn't like speaking much, eh? I nodded in her direction and then backed up a few steps, jaw setting in determination.

As I ran towards Angel, I shook my wings open –something that came surprisingly naturally- and then leaped off the ground. In that split-second off-the-ground sensation, I beat my wings in a powerful downstroke, pushing myself off from the ground. After a few seconds, my feet were still not on the ground, so I allowed myself to open my eyes. It wasn't far from the ground, but at least I was flying.

Upstroke, downstroke, upstroke… I felt the cool air under my wings as I flew higher and higher, a grin slowly spreading across my face. Damn, it was awesome in the air.

I looked down at Angel's now tiny figure, well, tinier figure, and waved, surprised that I could see her waving hand and her grinning face. Somehow, I felt like I belonged here, in this small country-side house so far away from the rest of the world, with those kids. Yeah, it totally felt like home alright.


End file.
